Chambers of My Heart
by Thirteen Again
Summary: A sequel to my fic "One of The Boys". Joey and Chris are together, but the challenges they face as high schoolers and adults will be like nothing they've seen before. HAPPY READING!
1. Chapter 1

**FINALLY! NO MORE STAND BY ME WRITER'S BLOCK FOR ME! I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW LONG IT'S BEEN! I know this chapter is really short, but I just wanted to set the stage for all the events to come. Enjoy! **

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned this, Chris would be alive, and Teddy would have a decent ear, Gordie would have a nice family and Vern would go on Jenny Craig. Actually, forget about that Vern thing, we love him just the way he is. : )**

**CHAPTER 1: FEELS LIKE TONIGHT**

On a warm June evening in 1964, I sat in my bedroom, preparing for an event that I never thought I would attend in my life: the senior freaking prom.

Let me just update you on the things that happened after that summer of Ray Brower: Chris finally gave in to Gordie and I nagging him and enrolled in the college courses with us. Sometimes it was hard for him, but he always had the two of us to fall back on.

Teddy and Vern had enrolled in the shop courses (as was predetermined that summer), and even though we hadn't seen them that much, the five of us still remained close friends.

Mickey was growing faster than I could even say his name. I mean, come on, one day he's a two year old painting pictures that were just blobs of paint, the next, he's seven years old! He was so excited about starting the second grade, and he was now working tirelessly on trying to join the Little League team in town.

Speaking of Mickey, just as I finished putting on some blush (the only makeup I would wear, seeing as I had to look SOMEWHAT more attractive), he appeared in the doorway, with his bright red hair growing into a Beatles cut. Not the best look for someone with curly hair. "Joey? Chris is here," he said.

I sank down and whispered, "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. Okay, it's okay, just relax," to myself.

Mickey backed away from me slowly and said, "Okay?"

I turned to tease Mickey about his reaction, but when his mouth dropped open, I grew worried. "What is it, M and M? Did I put too much blush on? I probably put too much blush on."

"No, Joey, no! You look like… a princess," Mickey gasped.

I smiled. "Can you keep Chris detained for a little while, Mickey? I just want to put some finishing touches on this."

Mickey scrunched up his face. "What's 'detained'?"

I gave a synonym: "Stall him."

Mickey smiled and said, "Oh, I understand." He made a gesture and dashed back downstairs.

I sighed and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I had on a light purple strapless dress, that stopped just above my knees. My hair was done in its usual ponytail (hey, it was bad enough getting into a dress), but I finally managed to convince myself to put little purple flower buds in the "tail" part of it. My cheeks were a little pink from the blush, and I had no other makeup on. As I stood up to walk downstairs, my eyes fell on an old photo of me with Gordie and Chris from the summer of Ray Brower. I couldn't help but think that the old me would not really be too pleased with me and my little look, but, I mean, I guess I could make myself look feminine for Chris at least. I let out a breath and whispered, "Here goes nothing."

I stood at the top of the stairs and peered down. Chris was looking so handsome in his tuxedo, I thought I'd faint any second. "Relax," I ordered myself. "If you faint, I'm going to kill you." I quickly pulled myself together and walked down the stairs.

Okay, what you're probably thinking is that the whole scene played out like it was in the movies: I float down the stairs, gorgeous, like a star. Chris, ever suave and charming, pins the corsage effortlessly on my dress, and we fly away to the prom.

And you know what happened? Almost the same thing. Not quite; I was never made to float.

I just walked down the stairs as normally as I would if I were meeting Chris. In fact, the poor thing looked so worried about messing up (as if he could), he didn't even notice me sneaking up behind him. Finally, I put my head on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry so much, Chambers, I can hear you whimpering a little."

Chris whirled around and gave a, dare I say it, little squeak of surprise.

I shook my head and laughed. Chris Chambers was too cute for mere words.

Chris ran a hand through his hair and looked me up and down. "Wow, Joe… God, you look…"

"Exquisite?" I suggested, kidding. "A work of art? Ravishingly, jaw-droppingly beautiful?"

"What you said," Chris finally said.

Oh, my God, Chris was serious. He really thought I looked… like all the things I had listed. I looked down and shuffled my feet. "That works," I mumbled, embarrassed.

Chris laughed and walked over to me. He took my face in one hand and brought my face to his. "You do look beautiful, Joe," he whispered.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Did I ever tell you that I can just listen to you talk for hours on end and never get bored?" I asked. I paused. "Okay, that really didn't sound as strange in my head."

Chris shook his head. "It wasn't strange," he replied as he kissed my forehead. Little did that young man know when he kissed me, he sent 10,000 volts of electricity into my heart.

All of a sudden I heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. The two of us turned and saw my dad standing there with a camera. "Chambers," he barked gruffly, "save that for the prom."

Now, I could tell my dad was only joking, but, evidently, Chris couldn't because he leapt away from me like I had given him an electric shock or something. "I'm sorry, Mr. Randall," he mumbled.

"Chris," I said as I nudged him, "he's only joking."

Chris then laughed nervously. My dad turned to me and said, "Just wanted to take some pictures. After that, I'll be out of your hair."

I shrugged. "Alright then," I replied as I turned to Chris. And, about two minutes, 50 rolls of camera, and smiling so much I felt my face would freeze like that… we were done. I had said my goodbyes to Dad and Mickey, and Chris and I were out, walking to Gordie's house. We were all going to hop in Chris's car, Gordie would pick up his date, and then meet Teddy and Vern at prom.

I ran up to Gordie's deck and rang the doorbell while Chris waited in the distance. Gordie's dad still refused to accept Chris as a major force in his son's life, but he tolerated me. To a certain extent, at least.

The door finally opened, and Gordie's dad stood in the doorway. "Hello, Johanna," he said curtly. "What do you want?"

As I said before: tolerance to a certain extent. I replied, "Is Gordie home?"

"Why do you ask?"

Well, why the hell did he THINK I was asking? "It's prom tonight, Mr. LaChance. Gordie and I were going to go. But not as DATES, or anything like that," I filled him in.

Gordie's dad turned into the house and yelled, "GORDON! JOHANNA'S HERE!" He then turned back to me and said, "Wait here."

"Jesus," I whispered as he went back into the house. Some father; doesn't even ask when we'll be back, or who else is going, or anything. Finally, Gordie came out of the house… and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Poor Gordie had been forced to wear his dad's old tuxedo, and let me tell you, it did not compliment him at all. The pants were all the way up to his chest, and the jacket hung off of him like he was a little ragdoll. "Don't you dare laugh," he commanded through clenched teeth.

"Sorry," I squeaked out. "Come on, Chris is waiting." I led Gordie over to the car, and caught Chris's eye. His face was saying what I was thinking: Oh… My… God. "Nice little ensemble you've got there, Gordo," Chris squeaked out before finally losing it. I joined in and the two of us just fell down on the front lawn laughing hysterically.

Gordie glared at us. "I'm leaving," he said bitingly as he stormed off.

"HEY, WAIT UP," Chris and I shrieked. We eventually caught up to him, and plopped him in the car, driving off to his date's house. Things hadn't changed at all… really!


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: OLD FRIENDS **

We pulled up to the house where Gordie's date lived. It was pretty swanky, even by Castle Rock's standards, so I asked, "Jesus, Gordo, who'd you ask? Francesca VanPatten?" Francesca was this really rich kid in school that was the opposite of all of us: popular, perfect and bitchy with a capital "b".

Silence came from the back seat. Oh my God. "Gordon LaChance? Answer me right this instant," I commanded as I whirled around to face him.

Gordie sighed and looked out the window. "In my defense, I asked her on a dare, I did not know that she would say yes."

"Oh my God!" I yelled. "Gordie…" I turned to Chris. "Did you know that this was going on?"

Chris kept staring at the center of the steering wheel, not saying a word. Oh no. "You aren't saying…" I asked.

"Hey, I thought it'd go just the way Gordie said!" Chris tried to defend himself.

I scoffed. "I mean, really, how stupid could this be? You know she's only going to hurt you," I pointed at Gordie.

Gordie let out a breath. "Chris was the one who told me to do it, I was just stupid for going along with it."

I turned to Chris. "Why?"

Chris shrugged. "I don't know."

Gordie sighed. "I guess I'd better go get her, then," he murmured as he got out of the car and slammed the door.

I leaned back in the car seat and sighed. How could Chris just set Gordie up like this? I asked him that to. I think this was the very first time I was ever truly mad at him.

He sighed. "Okay, remember when Teddy had that big party the night that his dad got moved to the psychiatric ward of the city hospital instead of living up at Togus?"

I nodded. "Sure. I had to go home early because I had practice with the Terminators the next morning," I replied. The Terminators were the town's Little League team that I was now the coach of.

Chris nodded. "Well, when you left, that's when Teddy broke into the liquor cabinet, and everyone got totally drunk. We got into this really strange game of Truth-Or-Dare, and…" he gestured up to the house, "this was the result."

"Seriously?" I asked, trying to see what was happening with Gordie. He had been up there for a very long time, I noticed.

"Yeah. You know that tattoo I have on my left shoulder blade of that blue jay?"

I turned to Chris and smiled. "It was from that game?" I asked, laughing.

Chris laughed too. "Hey, I like it," I said as I looked up to the house. "Oh, Gordie's coming back!" I said. But… wait, he was walking down the steps with…

"With someone who isn't Francesca," Chris said, both surprised and happy.

Indeed, the girl Gordie was leading out to the car looked nothing like Francesca. She wasn't blonde, curvy and gorgeous like Francesca: this girl was skinny, had chocolate brown hair that was cut to her chin, and hazel eyes. She looked like one of those… what're they called?... wood nymphs or something like that. Gordie let her get into the car first, and he got in the other side. "Chris Chambers and Joey Randall, this is Francesca's second cousin, Dana. Francesca got food poisoning and couldn't come with me."

"Hey," Chris said from the front seat.

Did Gordie just say… he did! I turned around and said, "Dana Meeks? The girl who used to read instead of play hide and seek in preschool? The girl whose uncle managed the Red Sox and got us front row seats to every game?"

Dana's face lit up when she saw me. "Joey Randall? The girl who beat up Freddy Antonelli when he stole my soda pop in first grade? And who sat with me and my dad at all those Fenway Park games?"

"That's me!" I yelled and the two of us started screaming. I couldn't believe it! Dana had been my best (and only girl) friend when I lived in Boston when I was younger! "What the hell are you doing all the way out here?" I asked as I struggled around the seat to hug her.

"My dad moved out here to get a fresh start, and we stayed here with Francesca and her parents. I only transferred here a week ago, I had no clue you moved HERE!"

"Well, you do now!" I laughed. Okay then! This was going to be a very happy prom!

After about a half hour of reminiscing, the four of us pulled up to the front of the high school. Chris turned to me and asked, "You ready?"

I nodded. "Here we go," I said as we hopped out of the car and walked through the doors. Chris linked my arm in his and I smiled: this was the night I'd been waiting for.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3: ALL TOGETHER NOW**

Once Dana, Chris, Gordie and I walked into the gym, we were nearly tackled by Teddy, Vern and their dates. "DON'T KILL THEM!" I heard Teddy's date yell as Teddy and Vern embraced us warmly.

All of us laughed as Teddy stepped back and observed me in my dress. "Verno, the world's ending! It's the Apocolypse; Johanna Randall is wearing a DRESS!" he shrieked as he laughed the "Teddy laugh" and melodramatically dove under a table.

I rolled my eyes and laughed as I ran over to pull Teddy out from under the table. "Come on, Duchamp, it can't be that big of a surprise. Had to happen at some point, right?"

Teddy stood up and shrugged. "I guess." He then slung his arm around his date, a beautiful redhead with skin that looked like the color of cream. "Linda Emerson, meet Gordie LaChance, Chris Chambers, Joey Randall and…" he trailed off as he pointed at Dana.

"Dana Meeks," she filled in. "Francesca got sick and couldn't make it."

"You're pretty torn up about that aren't you, Gordo?" Vern commented dryly.

Gordie looked down at Dana (he got SO freakishly tall) and replied, "I think I'll live."

After Vern introduced his date (Kathy) to us, Dana asked me to accompany her to the ladies' room. I agreed, and the minute we got there, she asked me, "So, what's Gordie like? I mean, Francesca didn't tell me anything about him: just said, 'Hey, here's a date, go to prom, bye.'"

I snorted, "Sounds like Francesca. Well… Gordie and I have been best friends ever since I moved here. He's very sweet and funny, and actually," I poked her ribs, "he wants to be a writer when he grows up."

Dana blushed and replied, "He is pretty cute. In fact, when we were walking down to Chris… yeah, Chris's car, he actually apologized for Francesca's behavior, and told me he only asked her on a dare!"

I nodded, proud that Gordie was finally getting the romance he deserved, and glad that it was at least with Dana, the only girl I actually liked. "Yeah. Once you get to know him, Dana… you're going to love him. And I'm positive he's going to love you."

*CHRIS POV* 

I turned to Gordie "So… Dana seems really cool," I commented once I knew the girls were out of earshot.

"Just "really cool"?" Gordie asked incredulously. "She's gorgeous!"

"Aw, Cupid's arrow has finally pierced the heart of Mr. Gordie LaChance, has it?" Teddy asked.

Gordie blushed and mumbled, "Shut up, Teddy." He then looked up at me. "Joey isn't looking so bad either, Chris."

Teddy nodded. "If she looked like that more often, I might have to steal her from you, Chambers. JUST KIDDING!" he yelled when I advanced on him. Nobody was going to steal my Joey. Well, she wasn't really MY Joey, but still…

Vern piped up with, "I think that's the first time I can say that she looked really REALLY pretty."

At the sound of that, Kathy burst into tears. She ran out of the gym weeping, "You don't think I'm pretty, Vern!" while Vern chased after her yelling, "Kathy, wait! I didn't mean it like that!"

I laughed, and then my thoughts drifted to Joey. God, tonight, she was beautiful. Well, hell, she was beautiful every day, but tonight, she was just exquisite. I twisted the class ring I had on my finger nervously; I planned on giving it to Joey that night, as a graduation present. I could still remember the very first time I met her:

FLASHBACK 

"_Come on, Gordo, slam it out of here!" I yelled to Gordie. He was up at bat, while I was on second base in a baseball game between the four of us guys and Eyeball and his friends. Eyeball and his friends had bet us dinner at the Blue Point Diner that they could beat us in a game just because they were 14, and we were eight, and so far, because Eyeball's friends were… well… Eyeball's friends, we were losing pitifully. Ace Merrill, who was pitching, threw a curveball that Gordie smacked with all of his might. "FOUL!" someone yelled as the ball sailed over the fence. I watched as the ball landed at the feet of… _

_A girl. Only, it wasn't any girl I had seen before; I didn't recognize her from school or church, and she looked too young to be one of Eyeball's friends. "Hey!" I yelled to her, "could you throw that ball back, please?" _

_The girl yelled, "Sure!" She picked the ball up, and threw it over the fence. It sped through the air like a comet and landed with a "SMACK!" into Ace's glove. _

"_Holy shit!" Ace yelled as he wrung out his hand. _

_Vern covered his ears. "Don't say dirty words!" he ordered Ace. _

_I immediately called a time-out and ran over to the girl. As I got closer, I saw that her eyes were a really pretty kind of blue, like the sky, and she had a smattering of freckles on her face. "How the heck did you learn to throw like that?" _

"_My dad taught me," she shrugged. _

_I gave a whistle. "Man, you sure throw good considering you're a girl." _

_I instantly got the feeling that this was not a smart thing to say to her. I saw her hands clench in fists, and she asked, "What does me being a girl have to do with it?" in a low, angry voice._

_I was so scared! She looked like she could pound me within an inch of my life… like my dad. I immediately said, "W-What I meant was, well, that there aren't many girls around here that… that play, you know? And I wasn't used to seeing one before is all." _

_The girl's anger slowly started to fade away, and she smiled. She had a really nice smile, too. "Thanks. Hey, what's your name? I only moved here a couple weeks ago, so I don't really know anybody." _

"_I'm Christopher Chambers, but you can just call me Chris. What about you?" _

"_Joey Randall." _

"_That's an interesting name…" _

"_For a girl," she finished for me. _

"_Yeah. Hey, you want to play with us? We're short a man anyway, so with you it'll be fair game," I offered. I liked this girl, this Joey Randall. _

_Joey nodded. "Yeah, sure!" _

PRESENT DAY 

We pounded them that day, and from that moment on, Joey had been inseparable from me and the boys. I looked up and saw Joey and Dana coming back from the bathroom. My heart skipped a beat, and I started to approach her, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Frank Harper, a guy I knew from football. "Hey, Chambers," he greeted me.

"How's it going, Frank?"

"Not bad, not bad." I watched Frank as his eyes fell on Joey. His eyes grew wide, and he gave a whistle. "Well, there you go: Joey Randall turned out not to be so bad after all."

Before walking away from Frank, I told him, "Don't be an ass; she's always looked like that."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: EVER THE ROMANTIC**

*JOEY POV* 

I talked with Dana for a little while longer, and then spotted Chris walking towards us. Dana nudged me and said, "Good luck, little lady," and she ran off to where Gordie, Teddy and Linda were talking.

I looked back to Chris, who stood in front of me, shuffling his feet nervously. That was one of the things I just loved about him: we had known each other for years, and he still got nervous as hell around me. "Do you want to dance with me, Joe?" he finally asked.

I smiled. "I would be honored, Chris," I responded, and Chris led me onto the dance floor. It was a little bit of a fast song, so we just jumped around like a couple of weirdos for a while. All of a sudden, the record came to a screeching halt. After a lot of groaning, mumbling, and frustrated yelling, a new song started to play. It was "My Girl" by the Temptations. I turned to Chris to say something, but he cut me off as he said, "I have something to say to you, Joey."

"Ok… what is it?"

"Well…" Chris looked around the room for a minute, then took me by the hand and led me out of the gym. I looked over to Gordie, who was swaying gently on the floor with Dana, and he smiled knowingly.

"Chris, what's going on?" I finally asked him.

"I'll tell you in a minute," he said, sounding like he was a bit nervous.

Finally, Chris stopped dragging me when we got to the football field. "You dragged me away from all that just to bring me to a football field?" I asked, confused.

Chris smiled. "Joey… we've been going together a long time, right?"

I smiled back. "I guess," I said a bit pressingly.

Chris sighed and got down on one knee. "Holy shit, Chris, what-"

Before I could say anything, though, Chris brought out a small black box from his pocket, and opened it. "Before you say anything, Joe, this isn't an engagement ring."

I couldn't help it, but I let out a breath of air. "Okay, thank God."

Chris laughed, and he said, "I want you to wear my class ring because… well… there isn't anyone I'd rather have wear it than the girl who's been my girlfriend since we were kids. It's a promise we'll make: even if things don't work out for us, we can promise to at least never forget about each other. What do you say, Randall?"

I was so shocked. Chris wanted ME to wear his senior class ring. That was something reserved for couples who you see when they're 80 years old, and they're sitting on a porch holding hands. I mean, granted, I had always hoped that would happen with me and Chris, but I never thought it would ACTUALLY happen. "Oh, my God, Chris… yes. Yes! Of course I will!" I squealed happily. Now you know it was something special, because I'm Joey Randall: I. Do. Not. Under. Any. Circumstances. Squeal.

Chris was smiling so wide, and he slid the ring onto my finger as he said, "I love you, Joe."

I laid my head on Chris's shoulder and said, "I love you too, Chris." And with that, Chris moved in to kiss me… and I immediately felt a stream of water hit blast against my back. "WHAT THE HELL?" I yelled as I collided into Chris (the same thing had happened to him).

"Some idiot must have turned the sprinklers on!" Chris yelled.

"Are you okay?" I asked, picking Chris up off the ground. I looked at him and gasped: his beautiful tux, the one he probably worked 18 overtimes to rent, was covered with mud. "Oh, no, Chris, your suit," I groaned.

Chris's eyes popped. "Oh, Joe… if you could see your dress right now…"

I raised my eyebrows. "It's a dress, Chris. Do you really think I care about it?"

Chris shrugged a little. "This is true." Well, let me rephrase that: he TRIED to shrug, but was once again bombarded by the sprinklers, and the two of us collapsed in a heap underneath the rushing water. Finally, we pulled ourselves together enough to stand up and get our bearings straight. In the distance, we heard the soft echoes of music coming from the gym. It was "Stand By Me", by Ben E. King.

Chris looked at me through the teaming water of the sprinklers, and held out his hand. "May I have this dance, Joey Randall?"

I took Chris's hand and replied, "It would be an honor, Chris Chambers."

Chris and I danced until the song was over, then (miraculously) the sprinklers turned off. The two of us trudged back into the gym with our sodden clothes, Chris's ring wedged tight onto my finger.

I couldn't understand then what made the moment last in my memory for so long. Maybe it was Chris, maybe it was the time of day, maybe it was the sprinklers, maybe it was the music. All I do know is this: it certainly wasn't the first time I went to sleep with a smile on my face caused by Chris, but it was the first one that was caused by Chris my "steady".


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5: CHANGES ARE COMING **

I stood in line fidgeting in my graduation cap and gown, waiting for the teachers to give us the signal to march to the seating area. I turned around and asked Kathy (Vern's prom date), "So… when's it due?"

Why yes, as shocking as it may seem, Vern got Kathy pregnant. You remember how the sprinklers were turned on at some random moment? Well, apparently, there were two kids in the utility shed that weren't quite careful with their canoodling exploits.

Anyway, Kathy patted her stomach gently, and responded, "About two months." She looked at me with her green eyes as wide and inexperienced as she was as I said, "Listen, Kathy, I know we haven't been the best of friends, but… if there's anything I can do-"

Kathy smiled and gently cut me off with, "It's okay. I can take care of myself and Vern… and anyone else who comes along."

All of a sudden, the band started into a loud (if a tad off-key) rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance". I stood up taller as I followed my high school classmates onto the football field… that place where Chris had asked me to be his and his alone. I shook my head and sighed. High school was over. Where would the boys and I go from here? I mean, in junior high, it was one thing: you didn't have to know what you wanted to do, or who you wanted to be. Now, all of a sudden, with Vern and Kathy, Chris and I and everything else… we all seemed to be growing up a lot faster than we ever anticipated. I was jerked out of my thoughts by the sound of screeching feedback from the podium.

"If I may have your attention, please, students and parents," our principal, Mr. Campbell, said as he tapped the microphone. "I'd like to welcome you all to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial High School graduation of 1964."

As the smatterings of people clapped politely, I felt a poke in my back. I turned, and smiled at Chris. "Hey there, sweetie," I said as he kissed me on the cheek.

Chris nodded at Mr. Campbell. "I've seen him go through this twice: once with Samantha and once with Eyeball, and every time, he always sweats in the middle of the speech. Oh, wait, look, it's coming riiiiiiight… NOW!" he said as Mr. Campbell wiped his head with a handkerchief.

I burst out laughing. "We notice the strangest things, don't we?"

"That's what makes us cool, Joe."

I nodded. "Ain't it the truth?" I turned back to the stage and sat through everything: the supposed-to-be-empowering, but was really extremely boring speech from Mr. Campbell, a non-moving rendition of "We Shall Overcome" sung by the glee club, and the football speech that was given by Coach Rogers which I actually somewhat enjoyed (I love football, but Coach Rogers was drier than the Sahara). Finally, we came to the point that Chris and I were waiting for:

Mr. Campbell cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone. "And now, giving the commencement speech, is an extraordinary young man. He's passed the SATs with the highest scores in this school's history, and we are positive that he will go on to do incredible things in the future. Ladies and gentlemen… Mr. Gordon LaChance!"

Chris and I leapt up out of our seats and started cheering our heads off. "YEAH, GORDIE!" I yelled, while Chris was screaming, "YOU GO, LACHANCE!"

Gordie stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat. "Thank you, Principal Campbell." He then turned to the crowd of people. "Fellow students, members of the faculty, parents, family and friends… we've been attending this school for four years all together. Through all the pep rallies, class dances, football games," he winked at Chris, "this student body has stayed with one another."

"It kind of sounds like he's talking about the four of us," I whispered to Chris.

Chris nodded, and my attention turned back to Gordie. "That being said, I have to tell you… when I became a senior, the first thing I felt was… fear. This was the last year I would ever have to spend with the people I loved, and had grown up with." As tears began to fill my eyes, I noticed he was focusing directly on Chris and me. "The last year I would wake up and know exactly what would happen that day. The last year I'd ever have to worry about some big test that I didn't study for," he chuckled. "The feeling of stability I had known for so many years wasn't going to be there on the last day of school."

He was right. However much I wanted it to not be true, it was. This was the last summer the boys and I would spend together. Teddy and Vern were staying behind in Castle Rock, Gordie was going to NYU for his writing, and Chris… I cried just thinking about it… Chris was going all the way to Boston to go to Harvard Law School. Why was I so upset about this? I was going to college in Berkeley. California. We were going to be at opposite ends of the country! I had never been that far away from home. I wasn't going to see the guys every day. I wouldn't get to tease Vern about still being afraid of his mother when he was going to be a parent himself; I wouldn't get to hang out with Teddy at the auto shop he worked at, and have contests with him to see who could fix a car the fastest; I wouldn't watch sunsets from my porch with Gordie while he read some of his stories to me anymore; I wouldn't spend as much of my day as I could with Chris as I could. Hell, I wouldn't even get to SEE Chris. Everything that had been so certain in my life was disappearing, and I hated it with all my being.

"However," Gordie went on, "even with all of these changes in store for us, I look to the future with nothing but optimism. This is going to be a decade of change for all of America, and the rest of the world, and I couldn't be part of a more deserving group of people who get to be at the forefront of that change. You have taught us well at Woodrow Wilson Memorial High, and you've taught us well in Castle Rock itself. Now let us take these lessons on with us, as we carry the banner of youth into the rest of our adult lives. Thank you very much."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6: GRADUATION **

I stood up and cheered louder than I ever had in my life. I had never been more proud of Gordie. Evidently, Chris hadn't either, because he nearly blew out my eardrums with how loud he was cheering. As we sat back down, Chris gently put his hand on my shoulder. "Sorry about yelling so loud, Joey," he apologized.

I shrugged. "Hey, pride for Gordie, I get that."

Chris was about to say something, but was cut off by Mr. Campbell. "Now, the commencement ceremony shall begin. Students will be called up in alphabetical order, and we invite the audience members to applaud for our graduates."

Well, this was it. A high school diploma would be mine within approximately three and a half minutes. I quickly settled in and listened to all of my classmates get their certificates of adulthood. In their minds, at least.

"Kathleen Beaumont!" Kathy, with great difficulty, clutched her enormous stomach and waddled up to the stage. The principal shook her hand stiffly as she accepted her diploma, and the other teachers looked at her with such disdain that I really felt bad for her. It wasn't HER fault she had been caught up in the heat of a moment. When she came back to her seat, I patted her hand. "You okay?" I asked.

Kathy shrugged. "As okay as I'll ever be."

"Christopher Chambers!" Chris walked up to the stage with a straight back, looking ahead determinedly. He shook the principal's hand warmly, and when his eyes caught mine in the crowd, he smiled like a kid on Christmas Day.

Once he was back in his seat, I turned to him. "I'm really proud of you, Chris," I said as I stroked his cheek to wipe away a tear that escaped from his eye.

"Theodore Duchamp!" Teddy, who still had the bad billion-inch thick glasses he had when we were kids, swaggered up to the stage in that Teddy fashion that just made me smile. I clapped and yelled for him as he took hold of his diploma, something (and I'm somewhat ashamed to admit it) even I thought he would never do.

"I'll be right back," I told Chris. Trying to cause the least amount of disruption as possible, I snuck from where the college-course kids were sitting to where the trade kids were sitting. Why they split these classes up? Don't ask me why, because I don't know. Anyway, once I got over there, I patted Teddy on the shoulder. "Good job, Teddy," I whispered.

Teddy turned around and gave me a huge hug. "Thanks, Joe," he whispered back. "You know," he whispered as he grew serious for a moment, "you're the only member of my family that came. Well, not FAMILY, family, but… you understand, right?"

I nodded and ruffled his hair. "Of course I understand." Then, my eyes flitted over to the stage, and I saw that they were almost on letter "L". And you know what that meant. "I have to go, Teddy. See you at the party later, right?" My dad was hosting this huge graduation barbeque for everyone after the ceremony.

"Indubitably. See you there," Teddy assured me as he gave my hand one last squeeze. I then snuck back to the college-course kids and sat back in my seat.

"Gordon LaChance!" Once again, Chris and I leapt up and cheered for him. Gordie looked the way he did whenever he was insanely happy when he were kids: his smile filling his whole face, his doe eyes shining with glee. I watched him like a proud mother as he exited the stage.

After Dana and 100 or so other people had walked up and gotten their diplomas, finally, the moment arrived: "Johanna Randall!"

I slowly walked up to the stage to the sound of about… oh, say… seven people applauding and cheering wildly for me. I took a breath and composed myself. All I had to do was walk up to the stage, grab a piece of paper, shake a couple hands and leave. That's all.

I stepped up to the podium and accepted my high school diploma. Principal Campbell shook my hand and said, "I'm positive you'll go on to do great things, Miss Randall."

I smiled and responded, "Thanks, Mr. Campbell." And he was right: I was going to do great things. Not the great things I expected to do, but great things nonetheless.

Finally… "Vernon Tessio!" I shook my head and clapped as good old Verno walked up to the stage. However, the poor guy tripped as he got to the steps, and, I being me, I ran over to help him up. "Hey, Vern, you okay?" I asked as I picked him up and dusted him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, Joe," he assured me.

"Okay." I smiled. "You ready to graduate high school, buddy?"

Vern sighed and smiled. "About as ready as I'll ever be." I gave him a quick hug and ran back to my seat. "Is he okay?" Kathy asked me worriedly the minute I got back.

I smiled. "He'll be fine." I cheered as the last of our group got their high school diploma.

After a few more people walked up, Principal Campbell walked up to the podium. "Would the students please rise?" We did. "I now present Woodrow Wilson Memorial High School's 1964 graduating class!"

I leapt up and threw my hat into the air, watching it soar with all the others. I caught it just as easily, and laughed when I saw Chris's cap fall flat onto his face. "Got a little problem, there, Chris?" I smiled as I walked over and plucked the graduation cap off his face.

Chris fake pouted and said, "It's not fair. How come you caught your cap and I didn't?"

I lightly punched him on the shoulder, and we went off to meet up with Gordie, Teddy and Vern. It was off to my dad's barbecue from here. What happened there? Anything and everything.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7: BARBECUES AND… BABIES? **

"I'll be right back okay? I just want to change out of my robes," I called to the others as I ran into my house.

Sadly, the minute I entered my house, I was bombarded with an array of crazy relatives. You know, the kind that only see you once every five years, and at that, it's usually at weddings or funerals? After wrestling my way through the hordes of Uncle Henrys and Aunt Dianas (I even stumbled on a Great-Grandma Josephine), I made it up to the solitude of my bedroom.

As I looked around on my walls, with all the framed pictures, magazine cutouts and baseball gloves, I couldn't shake this feeling of overwhelming sadness. Summer would come, sure, but summer would go just as quickly, and that would mean leaving all I knew… everything I was… behind. I sighed as I shrugged out of my graduation gown and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Nothing about me seemed the same: my hair was still in its ponytail, but I was in a flowing white skirt with little strappy sandals, and a peasant blouse with blue flowers embroidered on the chest. Before you say anything, a few months before graduation, I had made a bet with my dad: whoever lost the bet had to wear a ridiculous outfit chosen by the victor. Guess who lost?

Still… I had to admit: I didn't look half bad in a skirt. Plus, I liked the way I looked; I felt like I was a little bit closer to looking like one of those girls in the magazines. Armed with this new confidence, I strolled out of my room, into the backyard where Dad was having the barbecue pit.

"Hey, Molly Pitcher," Dad smiled as he kissed me.

"Need any help with those franks, Dad?" I asked.

Dad shook his head. "I'm okay, Joe." He looked me up and down and shook his head. "Look at you. My baby girl's all grown up and graduating high school."

I laughed and nudged my dad. "Aw, Dad, come on. No tears now; we still have the whole summer to spend, right?"

Dad shrugged and smiled. "Go hang out with your friends, okay?"

"Okay!" I yelled as I ran off to find them. I didn't have to look too far to find them; I hadn't walked ten yards when Teddy ran over and tackled me to the ground. "JOHANNA RANDALL!" he yelled.

"Teddy, get off!" I yelled/laughed as I got up and brushed myself off.

Teddy laughed and handed me my shoes, which he had knocked me out of. He looked like he was about to make some comment about my outfit, but who should come to the rescue before anything was said?

Precisely. Chris ran to me and gave me a huge hug. "I did it, Joe," he whispered as he held me close. "I actually did it; I'm getting out of here."

I kissed him on the cheek and said, "I know, Chris. I'm so proud of you." I pulled away and turned to Teddy. "Okay, you can start with the outfit now," I granted him.

Teddy happily obliged. "WHAT in the name of Mike are you wearing, Randall?" he screeched.

Chris smiled and looked me over. "She looks beautiful, Teddy. Knock it off."

Teddy laughed, and then said, "Well, look who it is! Ozzie, Harriet, Judy Collins and Jack Kerouac!"

We all looked up to see Vern and Kathy walking over with Gordie and Dana. I turned to Teddy and asked, "I don't want to know how you know those people."

Teddy punched me on the arm and smiled. "You should know her pretty well, she's always gabbing about one of them when she comes over to the auto shop."

Chris looked down at me and smiled. "That's my girl," he laughed as we walked over to the others.

"There you are, Mr. Valedictorian!" Chris yelled as he gave Gordie a huge hug. Gordie laughed and said, "Thanks, Chris." When they broke away, Gordie looked over all of us and sighed. "Look at all of us. We're adults now, aren't we?"

I nodded. "In terms of age, yes. In terms of maturity… some of us have a ways to go," I said, nodding to Teddy.

"Shut up!" Teddy laughed.

At that, almost automatically, all of us, except Kathy and Dana, said, "I don't shut up, I grow up! And when I look at you, I throw up! BLECH!"

Dana cracked up. "Man, I wish I could have known you guys when you were kids. From the way Gordie talks about you, you guys seemed like a lot of fun."

I thought back through everything we had went through: when I had met the boys… fighting to make the Little League team include girls… the Ray Brower summer… starting high school… prom… "We still are," I said.

Vern turned to Kathy, who looked like something horrible had happened to her. "Kathy, baby, what's wrong?" he asked.

Kathy whispered the words we weren't prepared to hear at all: "My water just broke."

"WHAT?" we all shrieked. "But… it isn't due for another two months…" Vern whispered in a high voice.

Kathy threw her hands up exasperatedly. "It can come early, Vern! Besides, I've had bad stomach pains all day, so I guess… I guess it's coming now."

And Vern chose this moment to faint.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN **

"AAAAHH!" Kathy shrieked from the back seat of Chris's car as we sped to the hospital. Chris, Kathy and I were in one car, Dana, Gordie and Vern were in another, and Teddy was riding on his motorcycle.

"When was the last time you remember having the cramps, Kathy?" I asked nervously.

"Um… the first one I remember was when I got back to my seat after I got my diploma," she panted. "When are we going to get there, Chris?" she yelled.

Chris's knuckles turned white. "I'm going as fast as I can, Kathy, just sit tight, okay?"

"Don't you know a shortcut?" I pleaded with Chris.

"This IS the shortcut!" Chris yelled as he hung a hard right turn.

"Oy vey," I murmured as I buried my head in my hands. "This is not good. This just-"

"OWWWW!" Kathy howled from the back seat.

I snuck a look at Chris, and he turned to Kathy. "It's just a couple more turns, Kath. Then we'll be there, I promise."

Kathy sniffed. "Okay."

I patted her on the knee comfortingly. "You're doing great, Kathy. Just hang tight, okay? We'll be there any second."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, we had her all geared up and ready to go. The doctor turned to all of us and said, "Who here is the father?"

Vern stepped forward nervously and replied, "I am."

The doctor looked him over and said, "Okay, very funny, kid, who's the real father?"

Chris said, "Doctor, he really IS the father."

The doctor turned to me and asked, "Seriously?"

I shrugged. "Hey, I was surprised too."

"I'M HAVING A BABY!" Kathy reminded us from her wheelchair, annoyed.

"Right, sorry." The doctor took Kathy and wheeled her through the doors to the maternity ward with Vern following close behind. Two seconds later, though, they came wheeling back. "What's wrong?" Gordie asked.

Kathy grabbed Dana and me by the hand and said, "I want Dana and Joey with me too."

Oh no. Dana and I looked at each other uneasily, but Dana leaned down and said, "Of course we'll come too, Kathy."

"We will?" I squeaked. I didn't know what the hell to do with a baby! Even one that only had to be born!

"Why did you do that?" I whispered as Dana and I followed Vern, Kathy and the doctor down the hall.

"What do you mean 'why'? She's our friend, and we need to help her!" Dana answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, but… do you know anything about childbirth? Because I don't! I wasn't even allowed to see Mickey until two days after he was born!" I was FREAKED.

Dana stopped me and took my shoulders. "Joey… relax. You can do this, I'm sure you'll be great at it. Okay?"

I let out a breath. "Okay. Okay." With that, Dana and I went into the maternity room with Kathy and Vern, while the doctor promised he would come in and check on us later.

"Well…" Dana said once we were all alone. "This turned out to be quite the graduation, didn't it?"

Vern, Kathy and I glared at her. "Just trying to diffuse the tension," she said, holding her hands up.

Vern gave a small smile and said, "It's okay, Dana." He turned to Kathy and asked, "How are you feeling, Kathy? Do I need to get any more ice?"

Kathy grabbed onto his hand and pleaded, "Stay with me, Vern, please?"

Vern scooted closer to her and assured her, "Yeah, baby. It's okay, I'm right here." He turned to us, and I said, "We'll leave you two alone."

Sadly, just as Dana and I had gotten up to leave, the doctor came in. "Okay, Kathy, you're ten centimeters dilated. You're all set to go!"

Oh good gravy Lord. Vern, Dana and I all looked at each other with shocked faces. "I'll wheel her into the birthing room," the doctor said hurriedly as he whisked Kathy away.

I squeaked out, "Should I go with her?"

Dana said, "I'm coming with you."

Vern then turned white and whispered hoarsely, "I'm going to be a father. I'm 18 years old, not even a day out of high school, and I'm going to be a father."

I knew what was coming, so I splashed some ice on Vern and warned, "If you even think about fainting again, there'll be more where that came from. Got it?"

"Got it," Vern whimpered. "Let's go… let's go see my kid."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9: A NEW MEMBER OF THE GANG**

"OH GOD!" Kathy screamed as she gave another brave push. Hell, I was in pain just listening to her. And I thought her screaming in the car was bad.

"Kathy, come on, you just have to push again, and then you can take a break," Dana encouraged her.

"I can't do it," Kathy cried. "It hurts so badly!"

I held her hand tightly and said, "It may hurt now, Kath, but think of what's going to happen at the end; you're gonna have a baby! A beautiful, happy, laughing baby!"

Vern smiled at me and elaborated on my story even further. "Yeah, sweetheart. If we have a boy, he's gonna grow up big and strong, and maybe Joe can coach him on the Terminators. And if it's a girl… well, I know she's going to be every bit as beautiful as her mom is right now."

I bit my lip to keep from "awwww"ing. Seeing my buddy Vern like this was like seeing a little kid grow up right before your eyes.

Evidently, that was all Kathy needed, because after two more pushes, the doctor yelled, "It's crowning!"

Vern left Kathy's side for a moment to watch the baby, and Dana and I stayed on either side of her.

"Okay, Kathy, come on, just one more push!" I yelled. This was exciting, even I had to admit.

"Oh my God, I can see its head!" Vern laughed/yelled.

"Alright, Kathy, last one!" the doctor encouraged. Kathy mustered every last bit of strength she had and gave one final push…

And there she was. There was my best friend's daughter. Sure, she was covered in all sorts of weird crap, and she was screaming her head off, but Vern and Kathy were staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Oh my God," I whispered. "Verno, look at that!"

Vern had tears streaming down his cheeks. "She's perfect," he cried as he took her, all wrapped up in a towel, and laid her in Kathy's arms.

"Have you thought about what you're going to name her?" the doctor asked.

Kathy studied her daughter for a while and then looked up at Dana and me. "I think I'm going with Lily. Lily Johanna Tessio, if you'll let us, Joe."

I was stunned. "You… you want your baby's middle name to be mine?" I asked, shocked that they would think something like that would make sense.

Dana nudged me. "Oh, come on, Joe."

I started crying, and said, "Of course you can name her that."

Dana sniffed and walked over to stand next to me. "You did great, Joe," she smiled.

"No, Dana, WE did great," I laughed as I gave her a hug. Our celebrations were interrupted by Vern coming over and nearly choking me in a hug. "I'll be back," I whispered as I shuffled over to the door with Vern still attached to me.

Once we were out the door, I patted Vern on the back. "Joe, how could I ever thank you? What you and Dana did for Kathy-"

"She probably would have done for us if the tables were turned," I gently cut him off. "And you! Look at you, with a baby girl!"

Vern sighed and smiled. "I know. It feels unreal, but… I also feel like it was something I was always supposed to do, you know?"

I nodded. "Do you want me to tell the boys so you can be with Kathy?"

Vern said, "Yeah." Just as he was about to go back, he turned around to face me. "I'm a dad!" he whispered happily before he walked back in.

I was left alone in the hallway. Oh my God, I had a namesake! Verno's daughter was named after ME! As I walked towards the guys, I tried to hide my tears, but when Chris looked up at me, I just burst out crying.

"Joe, what happened?" Chris asked as he stood up.

Finally, I composed myself and said, "Her name is Lily Johanna Tessio. Born June 24th, 1964 at 6 pounds, 3 ounces, 22 inches. Mother, daughter and father are doing fine."

The guys exploded with cheers! "VERNO'S A DAD!" Teddy yelled in delight as the doctor came forward with Dana close behind him.

"So, Doc, what's the news?" Gordie asked excitedly as he put his arm around Dana.

The doctor smiled. "Kathy will have to rest for a few more minutes, but after that, you can go in and see her, Vern and Lily."

After the doctor went back to the maternity area, and Teddy, Gordie and Dana sat back down, I felt Chris's arms wrap around my waist. "Well, Joe, how does it feel to have someone name their kid after you?" he asked.

I turned and smiled at him. "Weird. But a good kind of weird."

He smiled and kissed me deeply. Ignoring the catcalls from Gordie and Teddy, and the "aww"s of Dana, I whispered in his ear, "Nice kickoff to summer, huh?"

Chris pulled away and laughed. "Maybe even better than Brower."

I thought about it for a while, then responded, "Nothing could beat Brower."


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10: MEET LILY TESSIO **

After a while, the doctor said, "She's all yours," and left us to see Lily, Kathy and Vern.

When all of us got to the room, we were greeted with one of the happiest sights any of us had seen in a long time. Kathy was laughing at little Lily as she opened her eyes and smiled at her, and Vern was lying in bed next to her, counting Lily's fingers and toes.

"Sorry to break up the party, but I want to meet Two-For-Flinching's kid," Teddy smiled softly as he stood next to the bed.

Vern laughed and handed Lily to Teddy. "Be careful with her head," Kathy cautioned him.

Teddy laughed at Lily. "Hey there, Lily. Look how pretty you are. Whoa, hey, Uncle Teddy needs those," he chuckled as she reached up and took off his glasses.

I smiled proudly. It was like Teddy had transformed from Teddy into… a somewhat normal person, just from holding a baby.

Teddy then passed Lily to Gordie. Gordie rocked her back and forth and looked at Vern. "She has your smile, buddy," he grinned as she smiled at him.

"That's your Auntie Dana, Lil," Kathy said as Dana gently took Lily from Gordie. "She would make me peanut butter sandwiches in the middle of the night when I had cravings for them, so ask her to make you one when you're big enough." Everyone laughed as Kathy said, "Hey, they're good sandwiches!"

Chris was the next one to take Lily. "Hi Lily," he said softly, in a voice he only used when he was talking to little kids. "Hey, you're a really lucky little girl, you know that? Look at your mommy, and your daddy, and all their friends who are here with you. We love you a whole lot, Lil."

And then, Lily was placed in my arms. I just stared down at her for a minute. Her face was all red and scrunchy, but I could see some tufts of Kathy's blond curls already forming on her little head. Gordie was right: she really did have Vern's smile, and when she opened her eyes, they were the same soft blue as Vern's. "Wow…" I whispered. "Um… hi there," I started off lamely with.

Chris nudged me gently and said, "We'll leave you two alone for a while, Joe. I'll call your dad and let him know everything is alright, okay?"

With that, Dana, Gordie and Chris all left. Vern then came over and started to pull the curtain that divided the room in half. I immediately stopped him and asked, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. What do you think you're doing?"

Vern shrugged. "Hey, Chris said you wanted to be alone. Also, I uh, kind of want some alone time, with Kathy, if you know what I mean."

Kathy blushed and hid under her blanket. "Vern, really…" she mumbled.

Vern smiled, said slyly, "Be right back," and pulled the curtain all the way around.

I sighed and tried again. "Okay… well, hello, Lily. You know, you have my name. Well, my first name is your middle name, but still, you kind of have my name."

Lily looked up at me with her big blue eyes as if she understood everything I was saying.

"Um… I'm not that good with kids, to be honest, Lil. I mean, sure, I have Mickey, and I'm the coach of the Little League team in town, but… I've got to be honest with you; I don't know the first thing about taking care of a little girl. I'm sure Kathy will dress you up in pretty dresses and everything like that. But I'll tell you something," I leaned down and whispered, "I'll make sure that you can throw a ball so well that Earl Wilson Stats will be begging for lessons."

Lily laughed, and I just smiled. "You're going to be one great kid, Lily Johanna Tessio," I said; with that, I kissed her head and drew the curtain back… only to find Kathy and Vern making out on the bed. "Uh… excuse me," I startled them, "but there IS a child in the room." I held out little Lily to her parents, and Kathy smiled.

"So, uh…" I said as I backed away from the happy family, "I'll just leave you guys alone for a while, okay?"

Just as Kathy was about to say something, Chris burst into the room, dragging my dad and Mickey in behind him. "There, Mr. Randall, see?" Chris panted. "Joey's okay, and Vern and Kathy are… well, they're more than okay, as you can see."

Oh, shit. I hadn't told my dad where we were. He probably thought I had dropped off the face of the earth somewhere! "Oh, my God, Dad, I'm sorry," I gasped. "I completely forgot about telling you what happened."

My dad shook his head. "It's okay, Joe. You couldn't have told me while Kathy was, you know, in the middle of delivering, could you?"

I smiled. My dad was always so good with understanding things like that.

Mickey piped up from behind Dad. "So, that's Vern's kid, right?" he asked, pointing to little Lily.

I laughed and pushed him gently over to the bed. "That "kid", as you so eloquently put it, does have a name, you know."

Mickey laughed, his freckles moving as he did. "I KNOW that, Joe, I'm not that dumb. What is her name?"

Kathy spoke from her bed and said, "Her name is Lily Johanna Tessio."

Mickey's eyes grew wide. He turned to me and said, "Just like you, Joey," as if I were the eighth wonder of the world.

I smiled and said, "Yeah, M and M. Just like me."

Kathy looked down at Lily for a minute, then turned back to Mickey. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked after a while.

All of us were stunned. I said, "Uh, Kathy, that may not be such a hot idea, you know?"

Kathy reassured me, "I'll be right next to him, he'll be fine!"

Still, as Lily was placed in Mickey's arms, I crossed my fingers. I may love my brother, but I can definitely say this: he's a total butterfingers.

Thankfully, Mickey held her perfectly. "Wow…" he whispered as he rocked her back and forth. "She's so little," he laughed. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Hey, Joe, she's looking at me!" he said happily as he looked at me.

I smiled as I saw Mickey make goo-goo eyes at Lily and talk baby talk. I turned to Dad and asked, "You want to get some coffee? Leave the new parents alone?"

Dad nodded. "Come on, Mick, we're going to the cafeteria," he said as he gently picked Lily up to hand her over to Kathy.

Poor Mickey looked crestfallen. "But… but…" he said, looking at Lily as if she were the last cookie on the plate.

I nudged him and ruffled his hair. "They'll be back home in a few days, M and M, you can see her then."

Mickey sighed and walked over to Lily, Kathy and Vern. "See you, Kathy and Vern," he said, and then looked down at Lily. "Goodbye, Lily. I'll see you soon, and we can play some more, okay?" he said gently.

Vern's eyes met mine, and he sent me a telepathic message: "_Yes! Free babysitter!" _

I raised my eyebrows and sent him one back: "_Free? Wait until he learns the REAL concept of money." _

Vern shook his head as Mickey walked over and joined Dad and me. I said my goodbyes to everyone, and left one of my best friends' new families to bond. "_A baby_," I couldn't help but think to myself. "_Vern Tessio, neighborhood scaredy-cat… a father."_ If that wasn't the unlikeliest of pairs, I didn't know what was.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11: DRAFT DODGERS **

After a couple of days, Vern and Kathy were allowed to bring Lily home, and the two of them moved into Vern's house (two minutes down the road from where he grew up). The summer went on as usual after that; Teddy had about two summer romances that lasted each half of the summer, Gordie was working on what courses to sign up for at college, Chris was leading a camp for five year old guys who wanted to be football stars like him, and Mickey? Every morning, he woke up asking when we could go to Vern's house and see the baby. When we finally did, all he did on the car ride home was ask when we could go back again.

One day, about a couple weeks before Labor Day, Dana and I were sitting on the porch of her house watching Mickey play "Cops and Robbers" with her younger twin brothers, Ricky and Tommy. "Look at the three of them," she laughed. "They actually think they're cops."

I shrugged. "Maybe we were the same way when we were their age; we just never really thought of it that way, that's all."

Dana turned to me and shook her head, the last rays of summer sun dancing on her dark brown hair. "You sure you don't want to become a psychologist at college or something like that? You'd be so good at it!"

I thought about it for a minute. Maybe I could be one if I really wanted to. I mean, I did like helping people with their problems, and I could tell really easily when something was wrong with a person.

I was about to say something, when I saw Teddy running up the drive, panting really hard. "Hey, Teddy!" Mickey yelled, but when Teddy didn't respond, I knew something was wrong. See what I mean?

At Teddy's lack of response, Mickey shrugged and said to Ricky and Tommy, "Let's go to the backyard; we've got tons more space there."

"_Nice job, Mickey_," I thought silently. By the look on Teddy's face, I could tell this was not for young ears. Okay, I need to stop acting like a psychologist already!

"Teddy, you okay?" I asked once he got up to the porch.

Teddy split into a grin. "Joe, you won't believe what just happened!" he said.

"What? What?" Dana asked excitedly.

Teddy's response was something neither of the two of us could have prepared for: "I just got my draft notice! When I pass my exam at the induction center, they're going to send me to boot camp, and then straight to Vietnam!"

I couldn't breathe. My head spun. "What…" I whispered, scared shitless.

Evidently, Dana couldn't believe it either, because she sank into her chair and whispered, "Jesus…"

Teddy looked totally confused. "You… you guys are happy for me, right?" he asked.

I just looked up at him, not really knowing what to say. "I…" I started, but trailed off. How could I tell him what I thought about the war?

Just so you know, the war in Vietnam was just starting at this point, and people in my age group that the older generation referred to as "hippies" were just starting to become angry that we were fighting a fight that wasn't ours to fight. I agreed with them strongly, as did Chris, Gordie and Dana. Teddy and Vern didn't really pay much attention to the national conflicts, but I knew that it had been Teddy's dream to join the army ever since we were kids. So how was I going to tell him that I didn't want him to go gently?

All I can say is this: thank God for Dana Meeks. She said, "I can't speak for Joey, but I can for myself," as she stood up. "Teddy, I'm so happy that you're getting what you want. Really, I am. It's just… I don't think it's a fair war that you're fighting."

Teddy just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, all's fair in love and war, right?" he asked jokingly. When he saw our faces, though, he stopped laughing. "What's up with you two? I'll be okay. With my luck, all I'm gonna get to do is assemble weapons. I won't even be on the front lines!"

I finally spoke: "Teddy, any line is dangerous; you know that."

Teddy reached down and grabbed my hand. "Joe… I know. I really do. But sometimes, you have to risk your safety for the safety of others."

We were quiet for a minute, and then Dana asked, "What do the others think? Gordie and Chris and Vern, I mean."

Teddy looked down at his feet. I thought I saw him murmur, "Oh God, how am I going to say this?" Wait… if Teddy had gotten his draft letter… that meant…

"I have to go," I said hurriedly as I jumped off the porch and ran to grab Mickey. "MICKEY, COME ON, WE HAVE TO GO HOME!" I yelled across the yard.

"See you guys," Mickey said as he ran up to join me. By the time the two of us had gotten to Dad's car, I put Mickey in the front seat and turned to Teddy. "Um… sorry for not telling you myself, Joe," he said apologetically.

Dana's eyes grew wide. Apparently, she realized what I had, and she asked, "Teddy, can you watch the boys for a while?"

"Sure," he nodded.

"I'll follow you in my car!" Dana yelled as she leapt into her car. "Joe, come on, step on it!" she yelled as I floored it out of her driveway in front of her.

Poor Mickey started flipping out. "JOE, WHY ARE THE TWO OF YOU FREAKING OUT!" he finally yelled when we got to a red light.

I turned to him and let out a breath. "Mickey… Teddy got a letter telling him he could go… someplace bad, and-"

Mickey cut me off with, "Joey, I may be seven, but I'm not stupid."

Well then. "You've got a mouth on you, Michael Martin Randall," I said sternly. He wasn't going to talk to me like that!

Mickey's eyes grew wide. When I called him by his full name, he knew he was in trouble.

I sighed as the light turned green, and I told him the whole truth. "Teddy got a draft letter. He's going to go to boot camp for a couple months, and then… he's going to Vietnam."

There. No harm done. Hopefully. Mickey asked, "Where's Vietnam, again?"

"It's a little country in Asia. It's south of China."

"Why are we there?" Mickey asked incredulously.

I shrugged. "Because the northern half of Vietnam is Communist, and the southern half isn't. The northern half is trying to bring Communism to the southern half, and the Americans don't think that should happen, so we're trying to stop the Northern Vietnamese."

We passed the time in silence for a minute, and then Mickey asked, "That's why you were freaking out? Because Teddy has to go fight in another country?"

"That's part of it," I said gently. "The rest of it is… we're afraid that Vern, Gordie and Chris might have gotten one too, so we're going to find out."

Mickey nodded. Finally, we came to the Blue Point Diner, the one place where I knew we could find at least two of the boys. I got myself out of the car, and was getting Mickey when the tires of Dana's car screeched, and she ran up to me. "You sure they're here?" she asked nervously.

"Pretty sure," I tried to reassure her.

Mickey said firmly, "I want to come in."

I was about to protest, but thought better of it. Since I had told him everything in the car, it wouldn't be fair to keep him out of finding out.

Dana, Mickey and I scanned the diner, and found all the boys (with the exception of Teddy, of course) sitting at a small table in the corner. Gordie looked up, saw Dana, and immediately came over to us. "Teddy told you, didn't he?" he asked knowingly.

"Did you get yours?" Dana asked, so scared that you wouldn't believe.

Gordie sighed. "Sit down with us, and we'll tell you, okay?"

Dana whimpered, but she allowed herself to be led by Gordie. Chris came up to me and hugged me tightly.

I pulled away after a while and asked, "That supposed to mean something?"

Chris didn't say a word. Now, I was REALLY freaking out. My palms were starting to sweat as I sat between Chris and Mickey.

"Gordie-" Dana began.

"We did," Gordie said. "We all got them except for Vern, since he's his family's only source of income; we have to report to an induction center in a week for a health exam."

Oh my God. No. No. No. No. No. No. "No," I whispered as I stared at the linoleum on the diner table. I cursed the hot tears that started to spring up in my eyes.

Dana didn't cry like me; she just said, "You'll have to find a way out of it."

"What way is there?" Chris asked, helplessly.

"Well… track marks!" she yelled, as if she'd just discovered radium. "The army won't take a junkie, will they? Just jab your arm with a sewing needle and you're golden."

Chris tensed up. I remembered his fear of needles as he said, "Maybe something a little less… self-mutilating, if you know what I mean."

Vern shrugged. "Why not say you're gay? They don't take gays."

Mickey asked me, "What's a gay?"

"A person who likes the same sex as them," I whispered numbly.

When I spoke, everyone else stopped talking. "Gordo… I can drive you home if you want," Dana suggested. "We can go over some more plans there."

"Yeah," Gordie whispered. The two of them got up to leave, but Gordie touched my arm gently and said, "I'll see you at home, Joey, okay?"

"I'd better go home. Kathy will need help with Lil," Vern said hurriedly as he left.

Finally (and unexpectedly), Mickey noticed a friend from school named Harry and ran over to hang out with him. Chris and I were alone.

"Joey?" he asked as he sat across from me. "Baby, look at me," he said gently.

I obliged and held back my tears. "I hate this just as much as you," he said.

"Just as much? I'm surprised you don't hate it more," I answered truthfully.

Chris smiled a shadow of a smile and said, "It's bad enough having to be away from you anyway; I don't want to do it in some faraway jungle where I'm ducking bullets every five minutes." He sighed. "Look, I don't have to pretend to be gay. Maybe I can… I don't know… maybe I can say I have flat feet. Eyeball did that, and they rejected him."

"Sure," I went along with him. Personally, I didn't even have enough energy to try and find out a way to keep Chris at home; all I wanted was for it to be some sort of bad dream.

Chris took my face in his hand and lightly stroked the scar on my cheek that Ace had given me the summer when we were 13. "Joey… I want you to know that no matter what happens, army or no army…" he held my hand and turned his class ring over on it, "you're always going to be my girl. And I'll never stop thinking about you, not for a single minute."

That did it. I just started crying. "I don't want to lose you, Chris," I whispered. "Not after everything we've been through."

"And you won't," he reassured me as he swept me into an embrace. "Because I'll always be with you. No matter what separates us; backyards, state lines, war or even…" he paused, not wanting to suggest that he might actually die over there.

Just then, Mickey came over to me. "Um… Joey? Can-Can I go over to Harry's house and play some catch?"

Chris and I broke apart, and I nodded. "Chris and I'll drive you, okay?"

Just then, Harry's mother came up behind the two of them. "I can take them, Johanna. If you'd like."

"Okay, then," I said. I straightened up Mickey and said, "I'll pick you up at 4:30, okay? I'll take you home… and we'll tell Dad."

Mickey nodded, and left the diner. Chris turned my face to his and asked, "Want to get out of here?"

I shrugged. "Sure, but… where would we go?"

Chris smiled (oh, that smile) and said, "I know a place."


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12: THE FIRST TIME**

Chris and I sat in the tree house where we had always hung out when we were younger, playing cards.

I knocked on the table. "I knock."

Chris took a drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke in rings. "What have you got?"

"23."

Chris studied his cards, and whacked his head down on the table. "Randall, you're killing me!" he yelled as he shoved some money forward.

I cracked up. "Fork it over, and nobody gets hurt," I tried to do my best Jackie Gleason impression. This was usually how Chris and I usually dealt with things like this: poker helped to take your mind off of things.

"Okay, I'll shuffle them back up," Chris said as he gathered up the cards.

I looked around the tree house. "Actually, I'm kind of getting tired of cards."

"Okay," Chris shrugged. He lit another cigarette and puffed on it. "What do you want to do now?"

"Don't know," I admitted. "Maybe we could toss a ball around for a while," I suggested lamely as I noticed an old ball and glove in the corner.

Chris eyed the sports equipment, and then looked back at me. "Joe, we haven't done that since we were eight years old," he said a little disbelievingly.

I raised my eyebrows. "What's wrong, Chambers? Afraid a girl can throw better than you?"

Chris stubbed out his cigarette, the tough neighborhood boy in him appearing for the first time in ages. "Who said I was afraid? I'm not afraid," he insisted.

"Well, come on then!" I laughed as I passed a spare glove to him. "First pitch is yours, seeing as I ought to let you win at something today."

That comment was followed by a wild goose chase around the cliff and forest around the tree house, which entailed me trying to get away from "the wrath of Chambers".

Sadly, that race I had beaten him in one summer was just one out of many we had, and he quickly caught up with me and tackled me to the ground. "Gotcha!" he crowed triumphantly.

"Damn, Chris!" I shrieked as he rolled me over onto my back. "I couldn't breathe under there," I laughed, and Chris laughed right along with me. As I caught my breath, I could do nothing but just stare up at his face; those eyes that looked like a sea on a cloudy day, that smile that automatically made anyone's day better, that hair that was the color of the sun… I couldn't catch my breath, I realized. Chris could take my breath away. "I still can't breathe," I said softly.

Chris then leaned down and kissed me. His lips were a bit chapped, but so strong and warm that I allowed myself to be picked up and carried into the tree house by him. All the while, we just sat there, holding each other, kissing so much that I knew my lips were going to be the size of my face when we finished.

I suddenly felt Chris's hand moving from my shoulder. It slid all the way down my back, sending volts of electricity to my brain that I didn't know what to do with. I heard him whisper, "I love you."

I then took his hand and placed it on my heart (not my boob, you perverts). If you could hear it, it would sound faster than a drum that Keith Moon was pounding with all his might. "You feel that?" I asked him. "That's how I feel when I'm around you."

I pulled away from him for a moment, and nearly giggled. He looked like a scared little kid as he asked, "Is it okay if we, um…. well, we…"

I gulped. I knew what he wanted to do. I was pretty scared. I mean, Chris and I had made out plenty of times, but actually going all the way? It was kind of scary. But then… just one look in Chris's eyes, and all my fears went away. He looked so trusting, so eager, so truthful. I knew he wouldn't do anything I didn't want to do. And I wanted to do this.

I leaned over and kissed the tip of his ear and whispered, "You think it's okay with me?" I paused and added, "Okay, remind me to never try and sound like a sexy movie actress again; it just makes me sound weird."

"Oh, be quiet, you," Chris commanded as he captured my mouth with his again. And for the next half an hour or so… I was completely, and entirely, Chris's.

…What? Were you honestly expecting me to tell you everything that Chris and I did there? Do you have ANY idea how disgusting that is? That stuff is private! You want sex? Go listen to some other romance story. Jeez, what kind of girl do you think I am?


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13 (CHRIS POV): MORNING**

I leaned up on the wall of the tree house and puffed on my cigarette. I've come to the conclusion that cigarettes are the perfect thing to wake up next to in the morning. Well, after last night…

I looked down at Joey, sleeping like an angel. Now she was the perfect thing to wake up to in the morning. I almost laughed when I thought about how nervous I was when we did it. It just felt like the most natural thing in the world to be there, in that moment, with her. It was almost… euphoric. Whoa, I don't know how I knew that word.

She turned in her sleep, and I hoped that I hadn't woken her up. But then she mumbled something about earmuffs and unicorns and I knew she was still asleep.

I watched the smoke from my cigarette curl up to the ceiling, and though about everything that had happened this summer. My buddy all of a sudden had a kid and a family to deal with, and then the draft notice…

I really didn't want to go. It may have made me sound chicken, but I didn't care: I was scared shitless. Now, if I had gotten the notice a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have cared, because at that time, the war was just some little thing where we thought we were going to be out in a couple of days. I knew better, though. With all of the things being shown on TVs everywhere, it terrified me. Hell, half of the guys from our class who were over there were already either in body bags or a VA hospital. I didn't want to leave Gordie, or Teddy or Vern. And Joey? I didn't even want to go to a different college than her, forget about going to some jungle 5 million miles across the world! Of course, the one and only Ace Merrill is going to the induction center on the same day as I am. That's just what I need: my brother's psychotic best friend is going to be in the army with me. Just peachy.

I looked all around at the tree house where the gang and I had grown up. All the card games we played here, all the comics that were read, and all the laughs that we had stood out in my mind as clear as a bell. I didn't want to lose that, most of all.

"Chris?" Joey's sleep-ridden voice jerked me out of my thoughts.

"Hey, baby. Did I wake you up?" I asked as I swiftly snuffed my cigarette out. Joey hates it when I or any of the others smoke in the tree house. "It'll go up in flames one day all because of you," she always said to us.

She shook her head and scooted closer to me. "Well… that was, um… some night, wasn't it?" she said awkwardly.

I've got to say, I knew how she felt. What did you talk about after you had sex? Did you talk about it? Was it like talking about a date? "Yeah," I finally settled with. "Yeah, it was."

"You were… you were good," Joey mumbled as she hid her face in the jacket that was serving as a blanket.

I cracked up. "I try, Joey. I try," I laughed.

Joey smiled back at me. "You weren't so bad yourself, Randall," I remarked.

She laughed that laugh I loved so much. "I guess. I mean, I haven't really had a lot of practice, but… you liked it a LOT, I'll say that."

At that, we both lost it completely. We laughed until we lost our breath, and then again until our faces were red. All of a sudden, our giggling fits were interrupted by a knock on the bottom of the tree house. "Anyone up there?" we heard Gordie's voice yell.

Joey and I looked at each other and whispered, "Oh, shit," at the same time. "Um…" I trailed off as I got up and started leafing through the clothes that were piled in a heap in a far corner of the tree house. "This is mine… this is mine…" I held up a bra, tossed it over to Joey and said, "That's probably yours."

Joey nodded and tugged it on quickly. After a while, we heard Gordie's footsteps coming ever closer to the tree house, and heard him yell, "Joe? You up there?"

Since Joey was all dressed, she leaned out of the window and yelled back, "Yeah, so is Chris!"

"Alright, then I'm coming up!"

I looked at Joey worriedly. "What do we do?" I whispered.

Joey looked around frantically, then picked up a comic book and tossed it to me. "Read!" she commanded as Gordie came up through the trapdoor.

"Hey. What's going on?" he asked as he looked at us.

Joey shrugged and turned the baseball glove she had had over in her hand. "Nothingmuchnopewe''scompanyhowaboutyou?" I gulped. That didn't sound too convincing.

Gordie looked at Joey weirdly, and then he turned to me with sly eyes. "Chris," he began, "Anything happen here that I need to know about?"

I punched him in the shoulder playfully, like I always did. "Only in your twisted mind, LaChance," I said back. Wow. How was I being so calm with all of this?

Gordie nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure," he replied. He then turned to Joey and said, "Joe, I'm here because of your dad. He was wondering where you were, so I just guessed and told him you were at the tree house with Chris."

Joey whacked her head. "Oh, SHIT! My dad is going to kill me!" She quickly grabbed her baseball cap and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing through the trapdoor, leaving just Gordie and me.

Gordie turned to me and said, "Alright, Chambers. Come on; out with it."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, LaChance," I replied as I picked up the baseball glove that Joey had been so fascinated with.

"Chris, I've been your best friend since we were four years old. Can't you at least be honest with me about what happened between you and Joe last night?"

I looked at Gordie. "Okay, fine," I sighed. "We came here to just get away from the news about the draft notice, one thing led to another, and… that was that."

Gordie smiled and pulled me into a hug. "Congratulations, man," he laughed. We broke apart and looked around the tree house. "It's all happening, isn't it?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're all growing up now. There are babies, draft notices, so many things are happening all at once. I know that nothing really lasts forever, but… I don't know. Sometimes I wish it did."

I nudged Gordie. "Hey. We'll be friends forever, right? War or no war, hell or high water, the two of us will be together forever."

Gordie smiled. "Yeah, of course we are."

"Race you back to the diner?"

Gordie got up and slowly walked to the trapdoor. As he opened it, he said, "I don't know, man, I don't think you'd really be all that up for it what with… you know… last night's little event."

With that, we both leapt down and chased each other all the way into town. At the time, I wasn't too sure what we were running for; to feel young again, maybe, or to escape everything that had happened so soon. To be honest, I don't think I'll ever know, but I do know this: that time, powering through Castle Rock with Gordie close at my heels, was the last time for a while that I was ever really free from my life.


	14. Chapter 14

I feel like I owe ALL of my readers an explanation: I know I've been terrible with updating my story for the past… well… EVER. It's just that I've had a lot of personal stuff I've been going through, plus my street seems to lose Internet access every other week because of some natural disaster, so I'm screwed either way. However, today being the 19th anniversary of the death of River Phoenix, I felt I owe it to him, myself and all of you to dedicate myself to this sequel. So, you can expect much more from me VERY soon. To all who have reviewed, thank you so much; it makes me smile every time I see the kind words and constructive criticism you give. And all of you who haven't reviewed, or who have reviewed but stopped, PLEASE come back! I miss you!

**CHAPTER 14 (REGULAR POV): WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT?**

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap crapcrapcrapcrapCRAP! That was all I was thinking as I ran from the tree house back to my place. I hadn't told my dad where I was going; he was probably sending out cops to come and look for me! I breathed slowly as I made my way up the front porch steps and into our kitchen, where I found (no surprise) my dad sitting with a cup of coffee.

I gulped as I stepped a bit closer to him. I loved my dad more than anything, and doing this to him would break his heart; I just knew it. Shit.

"Joey, where the hell were you?" Dad finally asked me quietly. "You go to Dana's house yesterday afternoon, Mickey comes home and you don't? I was about to call the police!"

I blinked back tears of shame and hurt as I said, "Dad, I'm so sorry. I was spending time with Chris, and-"

"Joe, you know as well as I do that that's no excuse. I know that you want to spend as much time as you can with Chris before you go to college, but not calling me at all?" He shook his head. "I thought that you knew better than that."

"I do, Dad, I do," I assured him, tears coating my voice as I sat next to him. "I just… it's not just college that I have to worry about anymore for Chris."

"What do you mean?"

My vision was suddenly blurred by my tears. I swept them away swiftly as I whispered, "Dad, Chris, Gordie and Teddy were all drafted. And I know that that's still a terrible excuse for keeping you up half the night, but…" I started full-out sobbing, "I just, I just didn't want him to go away."

Instantly, I felt Dad's arms wrap around me, and he kissed me on the side of the head. "Oh, Joey," he whispered, "I'm so sorry. A few of my friends went through the wars in Germany and the Pacific. They all came back alright, though; I'm sure that's what'll happen with the boys."

"I know, Dad, I know, but still… it just makes me so scared."

Dad and I broke our embrace, and he stroked my hair lovingly. "I know, honey, I know; it scares the pants off of me. I mean, I can remember the boys when you first met them. I couldn't see any of them being in the Army."

We just sat there for a while, and I cried and cried and cried. Oh, come on, just because I'm Joey Randall doesn't mean I can't cry. After a while, I just asked, "So… how long am I grounded for?"

Dad just gave a short chuckle and said, "Considering the circumstances… four days."

I shrugged. "Seems fair."

Dad let out a breath and looked upstairs. "Mickey was up worrying about you last night. Wanna check on him?"

I nodded and got up from the table. "Hey, Dad?" I asked before I climbed the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For everything." I then started trudging up the stairs to Mickey's bedroom. Once I came to his bedroom, I softly opened his door and shut it just as quietly behind me.

I kneeled next to his bedside and shook him awake. His eyes slowly fluttered open, but grew wide when he saw me. "Joey!" he yelled as he fell into my arms.

"Hey, M and M," I whispered as I rocked him back and forth. "I'm sorry for making you and Dad worry."

Mickey pulled away and asked, "How long did he ground you for?"

"Really? That's it? No, 'Oh, sis, I was up half the night worrying, I'm so glad you're alright?'"

Mickey laughed and responded, "Well, I figured you already knew that part."

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "You go back to sleep, okay? School's starting in two weeks, and I want you to sleep in for as long as possible before you have to catch the bus every morning."

"Why'd you wake me up if you wanted me to go back to sleep?" Mickey scrunched up his face.

"Just so you could know I was okay."

Mickey shrugged. "Eh, as long as you were with Chris, I already knew you were okay." He paused. "And you WERE with Chris, right?"

I sighed inwardly, but on the outside, I smiled and said, "Who else would I have been with?"

"Just checking," Mickey held up his hands and laughed. He snuggled back under the covers, and before I shut the door, I said, "Oh, to answer your question: four days."

I thought he was asleep, but I heard him groan, "Not fair," from his bed as I closed his door.

Once I got back to my room, I sagged down onto my bed. I looked around at all of the mementos I had put in here over the years: all of the baseball cards, the dog-eared photos, and everything else. I saw Dana and I at Red Sox Opening Day when we were six years old; little, two-week old Mickey all bundled up in my nervous arms; the boys and I starting junior high. All I could do was look at them. I didn't cry, I didn't smile, I didn't even think. I just looked.

For some reason, I felt so ridiculously exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open. I immediately flopped back on my bed and stared at my ceiling. So much had happened this past summer; my last summer with the boys, and Dana, Kathy and Lily. Why did it all have to happen this time around? Why couldn't all of the good things happen later, when I wasn't about to leave home? Why couldn't all of the bad things happen later, when I wasn't about to leave home? "Why did stuff in general have to happen?" I asked my ceiling.

Joey. You just talked to a ceiling. You have officially lost your mind in delirium, and you need to sleep. And that's what I did; I slept and slept and slept. There wasn't really much else TO do.

Of course, all of the guys didn't let Chris and I live our little tree house escapade down for the rest of the summer, but I had expected that. A week later, Gordie, Teddy and Chris went off to the induction center. I had stayed behind with Kathy, Lily, Mickey and Dana (who, by now, was as much of a weeping mess as I had been the day I discovered they were being drafted), and hoped for the best. Once they came back, we all went to Vern and Kathy's house and slept there. I remember Chris and I having to sleep in separate areas of the room (Kathy's orders. Don't ask me), but before I drifted off, I saw Chris eyeing me. I could have sworn I saw him cry.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15: WELL?**

*TWO WEEKS LATER*

We just stared at the letters on Vern and Kathy's kitchen table. None of the guys were brave enough to open the letters; the letters that contained their fates in the US Army.

Teddy was the first of all of us to speak: "Alright, which one of you pussies is gonna open yours first?"

Vern rolled his eyes and said, "Since when have we been pussies?"

"Since, um…EVER," Teddy laughed as he slugged Vern's arm playfully, just like he did when we were kids.

I socked him back and said, "Knock it off, Duchamp."

Gordie smiled a little, but then said, "Seriously, though; someone has to make the first move."

I piped up, "Why don't I just do it? I'll open all of them, and then you can read them for yourselves."

"I just want to say-" Vern started, but he was cut off by a melodramatic groan from Teddy. "Verno, save the teary speech for when I go off to war. Now c'mon, Randall, crack those letters open," he ordered.

"Jesus Christ, Teddy," Chris grumbled as he put a hand to his face, as if trying to get rid of a headache.

I just smiled and stacked the letters up in front of me. "Well… here it goes," I said as I cracked the seal on Teddy's, who then grabbed it from my hand and yanked the letter out of the envelope. "Be a little less eager, why don't you?" I mumbled.

Teddy's eyes scanned down, and I watched his face fall. "They rejected me," he said flatly, emotionlessly.

We all paused. Out of all the boys, I knew Teddy would be the only one who would be crushed if the army rejected him. I stood up from the table and started to walk over to him, but when I raised my hand to pat his shoulder, he smacked my hand away and threw the letter across the room. "MY GODDAMN EAR!" he wept. "It was my goddamn ear."

"Teddy, man, it's going to be okay," Gordie tried, but Teddy would have none of it.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now? I don't know how to do anything else but try for the army." He looked at me, tears falling down his face like waterfalls. "Joey, what do I do?"

"Teddy, it can't be that bad," I reassured him. "I mean, you learned some sort of trade in school; you'll be able to do SOMETHING."

Teddy sniffled, and then did something I never thought he'd do; he wrapped his arms around me, cried into my shirt and said, "I just wanted to make my dad proud."

"He IS proud of you, Teddy," Vern said, running over to comfort him. "Every day, I swear to God, he is."

Teddy looked at Vern, a look of not believing in his eyes. "You really think so?"

"I know so."

Once Teddy had finally calmed down, I handed Gordie's and Chris's letters to them. "Here you go, guys," I said gently.

Gordie and Chris looked at each other for a moment. "On the count of three?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Chris agreed.

I gave them a count off.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three."

The two of them both tore open their letters. I could feel my heart start pounding as their eyes scanned down their notes. The both of them were silent for a while. Too long, in my opinion. "Well? What did they say?" I persisted, hoping I sounded less nervous than I felt.

Gordie looked at me and smiled. "I failed. I have flat feet, so they turned me away!"

"Oh, Gordo, that's great!" I sighed in relief. I gave him a hug, then let him go so Vern and Teddy could give him similar congratulations.

All eyes turned to Chris.

"Chris?"

Chris tucked his away. "I, um, I didn't open mine yet."

He was lying. I could tell. If there was one thing Chris Chambers couldn't do, he couldn't lie about something as important as this.

But I said nothing, and the rest of the guys brushed it off. After a while, Vern decided to drive Teddy (who was still distraught, even though he didn't show it) home. Gordie then said he had to use Vern's phone to call Dana and tell her the good news. Chris and I were left alone in the kitchen.

"I know you're lying," I broke the silence.

Chris gave a half-smile. "Why did I think you wouldn't know that?"

"Come on, Chris, what does it say?" I persisted.

Chris brought the letter out onto the table. The both of us looked at it strangely, as if it were some unnamed specimen under a microscope.

Finally…

"I'll have boot camp for four months. Then they're sending me to Vietnam."


	16. An Explanation

Hello to all! So, I feel as if I should give a bit of an explanation for my extremely, extremely EXTREMELY prolonged absence:

The last time I updated this story was in December of 2012. Back then, I was going through an absolutely RIDICULOUS case of writers block, I was transitioning from middle school into high school…lots and lots of stuff was going on, and I found myself drifting further and further away from fanfiction.

However, I came to realize that this is a part of my life that truly do love, and I can't ignore anymore. So, to the people who have stayed on throughout this ordeal, this is my solemn vow:

I promise to you, my readers, to update this story. You will find out what happened to Joey, Chris, Gordie, Dana, and everyone else in this tale. And after this story is over, I'll write more stories for different books and movies and musicals. All I'm trying to say is that Thirteen Again is back, and she is here to stay Let's write!


	17. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16: MANIFEST DESTINY **

I let out a puff of air as I plopped my last cardboard box on my dorm bed. Summer was over. I had left my boys and my home behind, and had moved into Berkeley.

Chris left for boot camp a couple of weeks after I left home, Dana told me. In a way, I was glad he had left home after I did; I wouldn't have been able to take saying goodbye to him in person. He hadn't written me yet, but I knew that he would at some point. For now, I had a new life to start in California.

As I went over and opened the cardboard box containing the portable furniture I was planning to put in my room, a girl appeared in the doorway. She looked to be the same age as me, but we looked like we came from two different worlds. She looked like she had a mix of different nationalities, and her jet black hair had tight corkscrew curls that fell to her shoulders. She had deep brown eyes, huge gold hoop earrings, and a dress with a wild, colorful pattern. "Hey, um, is this the Finn Hall?" she asked me.

"Yeah," I responded.

"Dorm room 515?"

"Uh-huh," I said, turning to the next box of things to unpack.

"Oh, great! That means you're my new roommate!" the girl said cheerfully as she stuck out her hand. "I'm Veronica."

Okay then. I wasn't necessarily expecting to have a roommate with me, but this one seemed nice. "Joey," I said as I walked over and took her hand.

Her eyes started sparkling as she said the words that everyone said when they first met me. "That's an unusual name for a girl. No offense meant."

"No offense taken," I replied. "I know it's a little weird, but I've always been Joey. Well, Johanna, but everyone just calls me Joey."

Veronica nodded. "It suits you." She looked around at all of the boxes that were laying around and asked, "Want some help unloading?"

"That'd be great," I sighed as I rubbed my back. "I know I'm only 18, but, damn it, I have the back of an 85 year old man."

Veronica laughed. "Hey, I feel your pain," she said as she opened one of the boxes that contained memorabilia from my bedroom. "I used to play field hockey in high school, and when my leg got hit by some other girl's hockey stick, I was never the same."

"You played field hockey?"

"Yep." She then pulled out my worn-out old baseball glove. "Did you play softball?" she asked.

"Nope. Full-blown baseball until I was 13, then I coached a minor league team. Actually," I pulled a picture of the Terminators out from the desk next to my bed. "I have a picture of them right here. My brother's the little shrimp in the front."

Veronica laughed. "He's adorable!" She turned away and opened another box, as I delved back into the one Veronica had just opened. "You got any brothers?" I asked as I plopped my baseball card collection onto my bed.

"An older one, and two younger ones. Plus twin younger sisters, and a baby nephew."

"Whew! That's a lively household."

She nodded. "Imagine, if you will, a grown woman, three boys, four girls and a baby living in a four-room shotgun shack in Alabama."

Only four rooms? That couldn't be true. It just couldn't be; this girl couldn't have come from a four-room house.

"Only four rooms?" I asked, not wanting to sound like I was prying too much.

Veronica shrugged. "Where I come from, we were one of the richest families on the block. Hard to believe, but it's the truth."

I let out a breath. "That had to be rough."

"Yeah, it was. But one day, it'll all be different. President Johnson just signed the Civil Rights Bill, so everything will change down there soon. I can feel it."

We continued unpacking in silence before Veronica said, "Oh my gosh, I didn't notice your ring! It's gorgeous!"

I looked down at Chris's ring, the sunlight dancing off of the huge ruby in the center. "Thank you. My, um, boyfriend back at home gave me this. He…he got drafted."

"Oh, wow. Is he alright?"

"He isn't out of training yet, but they're not giving him a furlough after boot camp. He's…" I bit my lip, something I always do when I'm nervous. "Um, he's going straight to the front lines."

Veronica looked at me with a look of empathy and said, "I know how you feel. My cousin got drafted two years ago."

I nodded, and turned my back to her. I did hear her say, "This must make you feel so angry, Joey."

"I guess," I shrugged. "I'm sad, angry, hurt, terrified…everything, all at once. Why?"

Veronica reached into her hand woven bag and pulled out a pamphlet with a peace sign and the words "Fight With Love" printed on the front. "I'm part of this campus group," Veronica explained. "We're a nonviolent protest group that's against the war in Vietnam. We're having a meeting this Thursday in the Greenwood Building if you want to come."

I took the pamphlet and turned it over in my hand. Did I want to get involved in something so early in the school year? Especially with something that was so close to home? I looked at Veronica and said, "Thanks, but maybe some other time. I'll look through this pamphlet, though."

Veronica shrugged, her earrings glinting in the late afternoon sun as she did so. "Suit yourself," she said. She plopped down and spread out on the bed and let out a sigh. "At last, the unpacking is done!"

I laughed, and once I moved my baseball cards and my photo album that my dad made for me, I followed suit. Veronica and I sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, and I turned on my stomach to look out the window. Outside was bathed in golden light from the hot California sun, and the quad was filled with students from all over the country. They were sitting in clumps with books open, guitars in their laps and thoughts all over the place. You know, it was the weirdest thing: I could swear, everywhere I looked, I could see my friends. If I looked at a girl walking to a World History class quickly, I could have sworn it was Dana. Or there was a guy sitting against a tree reading a book that looked exactly like Gordie. I don't know if it was being away from Castle Rock or delirium from the drive or what, but I just couldn't get them out of my head.

I was snapped out of my trance, however, when I heard someone knocking on the door. I ran up to answer it, since Veronica was now sound asleep (and snoring) on her bed. "Who is it?" I asked.

"Mark. Come on, Veronica, open up," a voice replied. I opened the door partway and was greeted by a guy who, even though he looked like a freshman, seemed to be light-years older than me or Veronica. He had a mop of wild, dark curly hair, and deep, searching brown eyes. He looked at me for a second before asking in a soft voice, "Oh, sorry, um… is Veronica here?"

"Yeah, she's right over here," I replied, letting him in. "I should warn you-" I was cut off by Veronica letting out a snore that sounded like a huge log truck. "That she's asleep," I finished with a smile.

This "Mark" character smiled too, and stuck out his hand to me. "Mark Derwood."

I took it and said, "Joey Randall."

"Joey, huh? That's a nice name. Unique." The two of us stood in awkward silence for a minute, before we both started to say something at the same time. After we finished laughing at that awkward moment, I said, "You go first."

"Okay. Where are you from, Joey?"

"Oh, it's a small town called Castle Rock. Up in Oregon?"

A look of recognition crossed Mark's face as he said, "Oh, right! There was a kid there who went missing a few years back. Bedknob…Briar…"

It took me all I had not to burst out laughing before I said, "Brower. Ray Brower."

"Yeah, that's the one," Mark nodded.

"So, what about you?"

"Oh, I'm a city kid. Born and raised in Manhattan."

And after that, conversation flowed between me and Mark as if we had been doing it all our lives. In fact, almost half an hour had gone by before Veronica woke up and gave Mark the book of Dickinson poems he had come to her dorm for. By that time, though, it was late into the night, so Veronica and I decided to turn in.

As I was lying in my bed, I thought about the things that had happened that day. Veronica seemed like a good egg, even if she was a bit too political for my tastes. And Mark… Mark was very sweet, and very interested in what I had to say. I thought to myself that Chris might like him; he reminded me of Gordie. Suddenly, I sat straight up in bed as I remembered, "Shit. I haven't written a letter to Chris yet." I decided to get cracking right then and there. I fished my paper and a pen out from under my bed, crawled under the sheets with my flashlight (seeing as I didn't want to turn every light in the dorm on and wake Veronica up), and began to write:

_Dear Chris- _

_I'm so sorry I didn't get to see you off when you left. I was all the way out in sunny California, moving into Berkley. My roommate's nice. Her name's Veronica. She came all the way from Alabama to go to school here! And there's this other guy named Mark from New York City! He's such a sweetheart, and so funny. Okay, I can tell that you're making your jealous face right about now. Don't worry; he can't hold a candle to you. But enough about me. What's it like in boot camp? Is it as bad as it was in the movies? Is it worse? Better? And what about Ace? Is he still a psycho? Or is he better? How the hell did he pass the psychiatric evaluation? Am I rambling now? Yes. Okay. I'm just… I won't bullshit you, Chris: I'm so scared for you, more scared than I've ever been in my life. Ever since we were kids, we haven't had to do anything without each other, or any of the boys. Now, we're suddenly on our own. To think of you going into that huge-ass jungle all by yourself… I can't even imagine what that must feel like for you. Just know that, whenever you feel alone, remember that all you have to do is make it through one more day. Every day you make it through is another day closer to making it home: to me and to everyone else. I love you so much. I miss you. Don't forget: one more day. _

_ All my love, _

_ Joey _

_P.S. I love you. Just in case you forgot _


	18. Chapter 17

My fellow FanFicition denizens! I haven't been updating this story because of this: I have reached a roadblock as to HOW to tell this story. I know what I want to have happen, but I just don't know how to verbalize it. And that, reviewers, is where YOU come in! I would like to pool this story idea to all of y'all: how would you feel if I told the next several chapters of the story all in letter for between Joey and Chris? Comment and let me know what you think! And now, allons-y!

**CHAPTER 17 (CHRIS POV): MEANWHILE, THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY….**

_P.S. I love you. Just in case you forgot_

I folded up Joey's letter again and held it close to me. "I love you too," I whispered as I tucked the letter under the pillow of my bunk. The mosquitoes outside buzzed annoyingly, making it even harder for me to get to sleep. Being away from Joey and the boys was bad enough; being away from Joey and the boys in the middle of the jungle was way worse. And being away from Joey and the boys in the middle of the jungle in the same battalion as Ace Merrill, the psycho who's had it out for me my entire life? Not exactly how I wanted to spend my first year after graduation, if you know what I mean.

Still, even though I missed home awfully, being in Vietnam actually hadn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. My battalion hadn't gotten into any huge battles yet; we were just going around on peace missions to the different villages. But somehow, that goddamn Ace always found a way to make me miserable, just like he did when we were kids.

This was illustrated when, in the early morning hours, I felt someone sit down on my bunk on top of my bad ankle and say, "Get up, Chambers, time to die."

I groaned out, "Ace, it's 3 AM. We have to be up in two hours, just let me sleep." But Ace was too fast for me and yanked out Joey's letter from under my pillow.

That was when I got mad. "Give me back that letter, man!" I yelled, getting a lot of tired curses and complaints from the other guys in the troop.

"Aw, come on Chicken Shit, I just want to see what your little girlfriend has to say," he laughed gleefully.

"Ace. Give me that letter. Now." I got up from my bed and strode towards him threateningly.

Ace scoffed and walked right up to me. Our noses were almost touching, we were so close. "She still have that scar on her cheek I gave her?" he whispered. "She thought she could cross me, little bitch."

I grabbed Ace by the forearm and warned, "Don't you EVER talk about Joey that way again, you punk, or else."

"Or else what, Chambers?"

"Or else…" I paused. I had to choose my words carefully, because I knew that, especially here, Ace would have no qualms at all about killing me. "Just know you'll be sorry you ever crossed me when we're in the middle of a battle."

Ace seemed to falter, but then just rolled his eyes, scoffed, and returned, "Whatever." He crumbled up Joey's letter, the first one I had gotten from her since I got to Vietnam, and threw it onto my bunk as if it were no better than yesterday's garbage.

I sat down, stewing about Ace and trying to smooth the letter out, when I felt weight on the end of my bunk. I turned to see Peter Crow, who had been my bunkmate since boot camp, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Is that the girl you told me about from back home?" he asked.

"Yeah." I passed him the letter so that he could read. Normally, I would have showed only Gordie, Teddy and Vern something like this, but Peter and I had become really close throughout our time in the army. I felt like I could trust him.

When he was finished, Peter gave a low whistle. "Shoot, you're lucky, Chambers. To have a girl love you like that?" He eyed the picture I had of Joey hanging above my bunk and added, "AND to have her be a looker? You're the luckiest sonuvabitch in this whole damn Armed Forces!"

I shrugged. "Well, now… yeah I really am," I laughed.

Peter shook his head, strolled back over to his bunk and plopped back down on it. "God, I wish I had a girl back home. All I really have is my best friend, Rick. I mean, I love the guy and everything, but I don't love him enough to marry him when we get back to civilization, you know?"

I laughed and took the letter back from him. "I know," I said as I brought out an old shoebox from underneath my bed to put the letter in. In the box itself (besides the letter) was a pack of cigarettes, an old baseball card from when I was young, and pictures of the whole gang from right before I left: Vern and Kathy, holding Lily and standing in front of their new house, smiling next to the sign that said, "SOLD"; Teddy leaning against the hood of the car he was working on in the garage, striking his best James Dean pose with a grease covered face; a photo booth strip of Gordie and Dana, slowly changing from goofy faces to sweet kisses; and finally, buried in the bottom of the box, was a picture of Joey. I had hung a picture of her on graduation day above my bunk, so that I would have something current of her to look at every day. But the picture of her that really meant the most to me was on the bottom of this shoebox.

It had been taken on Teddy's 11th birthday, when we all headed down to the baseball field to play a quick 2 on 2 game (Teddy insisted that, because it was his birthday, he didn't have to play). His mom had saved up enough money to buy him his own camera, and while he sat in the dugout, Teddy snapped pictures of all of us while we were playing. At one point in the day, we decided to allow outfielders to tackle the hitters, because regular baseball just wasn't hard enough for us. Joey smacked a solid double, but Gordie had caught it in his glove, and then lunged at Joey just as she was rounding second base. The two of them had then collapsed into the dirt in a laughing, screaming heap, but when Joey got up, there was dirt smudged all over her face, and her ponytail had fallen out to reveal a mass of thick, brown curls. As Teddy yelled out, "HOLD IT THERE, JOE!" I couldn't help but think to myself, "_God. I never thought about it before, but Joey has really nice hair. And her freckles are…cute, I guess. Plus, when I look at her, I get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach… whoa! Holy shit… do I LIKE like her? Like Eyeball likes Rachel? Or Rebecca or whichever girl it is this week?"_ I remember that, throughout the rest of the game, I kept stealing glances at her, and after each glance, my heartbeat would quicken, and my palms would get all sweaty and gross. It was that day that I realized that I loved Joey as more than a friend. And I always kept that picture as a reminder of the fun, caring, bright girl that I fell in love with all those years ago in an abandoned baseball field in Castle Rock.

I touched the photo lightly, put it back in the shoebox with my other Castle Rock memorabilia, and took out a pen and paper. I hadn't had a chance to write Joey since I joined the army, and I had been wanting to tell her about everything that had happened to me since.

_Dear Joey- _

_It's okay that you weren't there to see me off; believe me, it wasn't pretty. Kathy and Dana were crying, Gordie and Vern kept trying to comfort them, and Teddy just sulked on the platform before the bus came to pick me up. You didn't miss much. Actually, the army hasn't really been that bad. Of course, Ace is still as psychotic as he's always been, and the mosquitoes are annoying as hell, but still. We haven't had to do any real fighting yet, and I have this buddy, Peter. Oh, Joe, you'd love him; he always knows what to say to make the whole platoon crack up. I'm glad Berkeley is as nice as you hoped it would be, but that Mark character? Make sure he keeps his… weapon holstered, if you know what I mean. Oh, come on, you can't blame a guy for worrying: away in a foreign country and all. And, Joe, you never have to worry about being scared; I'm scared too. Scared of fighting, scared of being lost, scared of being alone… but you convinced me to not be afraid. It might sound cheesy, but I'll just keep reminding myself that it'll only be one more day until I make it home whenever I'm afraid. I'm serious; it'll be like a bad TV movie. You be strong, okay? You've got a whole big future ahead of you out there in California, and it begins right now. I'm so proud of you. Don't you ever forget that. I love you too, and I miss you. _

_ Love, _

_ PFC Christopher Chambers (pretty classy huh?)_


End file.
